Introduction

Application for JDS 2017 is already closed.

The Project for Human Resource Development Scholarship by Japanese Grant Aid (JDS) has been started in the Philippines since 2002. Up to the present, total of 319 Fellows have been sent to Japan.
JDS is now inviting potential applicants who understand its aims and are interested in 2 year master degree program at Japanese accepting universities for the academic year 2018--2019
The program will be instructed in English.
The number of dispatches is 20 per year.

From JDS Returned Fellow:

Mr. FRANCISCO “KIKO” RELEVO CRUZ
(5th Batch, Graduated in 2009)
Keio University, Graduate School of Media and Governance
Master in Media and Governance, focusing on Human Security and Communications
Workplace: Director IV, Planning Service, Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG)

Studying in Japan, through the JDS scholarship, saved my life from eternal boredom and hopelessness - brought about by staying in one place for quite a long time with nothing quite encouraging on the horizon - and helped me gain a new and fresh perspective on how governments anywhere in the world should deal with their respective people and realities they confront.

My stint as a master’s student at Keio University, Shonan Fujisawa Campus undoubtedly helped me grow academically owing to the access to volumes upon volumes of books available at the University’s media center, and the very incisive and inquisitive thoughts of our senseis (professors). Unexpectedly but gratefully, my two years of scholarship in Japan prepared me to handle greater responsibilities in government, armed with new ideas on how government executives should work in order to be effective and responsive.

One of the concepts or phrases that struck me in one of the lectures in our zemi (seminar) at that time, and something that I remember until now, is that of “deviant cases”. Technically, this means cases that are considered outliers or those that seem to be exception to the rule. When applied to government, this rather means that policy makers should take into account the situation and/or condition of those in the margins of society. Not because majority in the society approve of, or seem indifferent to, but something that makes themselves really right and nothing should be rectified due to that majority voice.

Being a “deviant case” does not mean that it should be isolated from society, denied opportunities to grow and not given the chance to take part in governance. In fact, it is the responsibility of government policy makers to bring that “deviant case” onto the table and consider part of the entire planning process to ensure that governments do not leave behind anyone or any group when crafting and implementing policies, programs and projects. This is one idea that I will bring wherever my career in government takes me. By the way, I am a deviant case, too - from the one who merely reports the gains of our Agency to the public as an information officer, thanks to JDS, I was able to leap to become part of the group that charts its future and direction as Director for Plans, engaging stakeholders and officials of various agencies of the Philippine government.

Of course, my story as a JDS scholar will not be completed without saying that it afforded me the opportunity to go to the beautiful places in Japan (from Kamakura to Hakone, Oita, and Sapporo among others), which allowed me to experience new culture and meet Japanese people who proved to be very nice, considerate and accommodating in the two years I was there. Hopefully, one day I can repay all the kindness that they and JDS have shown and given to me. Maraming salamat/Arigatou gozaimashita.

Below are the introduction of the JDS Scholarship Program in the Philippines;
The contents aired in YouTube and Facebook are the same.